Read Online Unhonored by Tracy Hickman - Free Book Online Page A

has rules, my lady,” said Mrs. Crow.
    â€œHow did we get here?” Ellis asked. “In the Game, I mean.”
    â€œOh, that’s an old story, your ladyship,” Mrs. Crow sighed, leaning until her back came to rest against the wall. “Way before the house ever was.”
    â€œTell it to me,” Ellis insisted.
    â€œWell, best I can remember, there was this fight between two brothers,” said Mrs. Crow as her eyes narrowed. “One was noble and wanted discipline and order for all of us, to give us purpose. The other was selfish and wanted to do whatever he liked. But their father said we all had to decide for ourselves which of them we were going to follow: the noble one or the selfish one. Some chose one and some chose the other but there were a few who didn’t want to decide at all. Those are the people who came here to the Tween. Those are the folks who are in the Game.”
    â€œSo everyone here is part of the Game?” Ellis asked.
    â€œI didn’t say that, ma’am,” Mrs. Crow corrected gently.
    â€œBut you said…”
    â€œI said that those were the folks that came to the Tween and are in the Game,” Mrs. Crow replied, straightening up to perch on the edge of the chest. “There are others who have come to the Tween for their own purposes. There are emissaries—some call them angels and some call them demons—who make their way into the Tween trying get some soul to finally make that choice they didn’t want to make in the first place and ally themselves with one brother or the other.”
    â€œSo, what is the Game?” Ellis asked.
    â€œWell, it’s a place that we all share.” Mrs. Crow smiled. “It’s a way for us to enjoy a taste of life for a bit.”
    â€œYou mean a better life, don’t you, Mrs. Crow?”
    â€œIsn’t that what I said? Here, now, let me assist your ladyship,” said the housekeeper with a kindly, sweet smile. Mrs. Crow stood up and stepped around behind Ellis. She reached forward toward the buttons that closed the back of the costume, her pale, white fingers remarkably deft at the task. The back of the costume parted, exposing Ellis’s back to the chill of the room.
    Ellis shivered.
    â€œOh, and you have such shoulders,” Mrs. Crow said admiringly. “Have you thought where you might go?”
    â€œI need to find Jenny before I do anything,” Ellis said simply, then turned around to face Mrs. Crow. “Do you know Jenny?”
    â€œMiss Jenny? Of course, my lady.” Mrs. Crow chuckled with merriment. “Your sister, as I recall.”
    â€œOdd,” Ellis remarked. “She was my cousin last time…”
    â€œCousin … sister … it makes little difference in the end, does it not, my lady?” Mrs. Crow managed to get the last of the buttons undone. “Have you thought where you might start?”
    â€œI hardly know where I am, let alone where I might begin,” Ellis sighed.
    â€œWell, if I might be so bold with her ladyship, might I make a suggestion?” Mrs. Crow prattled on, her eyes twinkling. She did not wait for a response to her question. “I would begin in the Old Quarter. There are many places there where someone might hide and few here in this house that go there. It reminds them of the past and I think it makes them uncomfortable. Still, you’ve got a guide in that Jonas and that could make all the difference.”
    Ellis stepped out of the costume and turned with no small reluctance to the drab green outfit that was so irritatingly familiar to her that lay across the narrow bed.
    â€œAnd one more word, if I may,” Mrs. Crow said, stepping back and once more crossing her hands in front of her. “That young man Jonas…”
    Mrs. Crow paused.
    â€œWhat is it, Mrs. Crow?”
    â€œI hesitate to say, my lady,” the old woman said through a troubled frown.